Page 47 of Capture of Capricorn

The corner of his mouth lifted, and Crius sounded positively gleeful as he stated, “The thirteenth isn’t bound by the same rules, and when its last avatar caused quite a bit of trouble, it was rendered into three parts and scattered. I’m sure it will be rather grateful to the person who sets it free.”

Did he speak the truth? “Doesn’t really matter, seeing as how the portal room isn’t accessible. Tower locked it down.”

“Do you really think a bit of stone will stand in my way?” Crius laughed. “I’ve got enough C-4 to bring down this whole building if I want.”

“You won’t get away with this.”

“But I already have,” Crius’ sly reply. “You see, I knew the tower would turtle in its stony shell to protect itself, but in doing so, it also prevented the warriors from beaming back. By the time they do sluggishly make their way here via more mundane methods, I’ll have transformed. Then, with the thirteenth’s power and my black hole technology, it will only be a matter of time before I control all the constellations.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think you can control the star entities.” She snorted.

“The Astraeus that refuse to transfer me their support will be destroyed. As Earth’s Supreme Leader, I won’t tolerate any dissidence.”

“You want to rule the world?” She ogled him as he uttered the most insane thing yet.

“I think it’s time to put an end to all these bloated, and useless, governments. What humanity needs is one ruler making and enforcing laws worldwide. I will put an end to all crime. There will be no divide between wealthy and poor, as all will be rendered equal under my rule.”

“How amusing you think you’ll be the first dictator to make communism succeed. It won’t work. Never has, never will.” She rolled her eyes.

“I will run the planet like a hive. Drones working for the common good, and once the lazy complainers are eradicated, humanity will thank me for it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Then they’ll die. I think Earth would be a much better place with fewer people, don’t you?”

“You’re going to fail.”

The slap didn’t exactly take her by surprise, but it still stung.

Crius snapped, “Mouthy bitch. I was going to kill you, but now, I think it will be more enjoyable to have you watch as I succeed. Tie her up,” he ordered. “We don’t want her getting in the way.”

As if Zora could actually do anything. She had no magical power or strength. Nothing but her wits and sassy mouth.

Fuck me, I’m screwed.

CHAPTER 15

Aries couldn’t stoppacing and freaking, completely unraveled by his impotence when it came to aiding his wife.

An inability to starbeam to the portal room had never been an issue they’d dealt with before. Sure, they could book a flight to Iraq and then drive to Tower. After all, they knew its location and its defense—if any even remained. However, that would take time, and who knew the damage Adam and his goons could do? Not to mention the harm he might cause to Zora and Sage.

There had to be a quicker way. If they had their usual sandbox they could have calculated a trajectory. Alas, they had no access to meteorite dust?—

“Aries, how far is Paris’ National History Museum?”

“What? Why the fuck would I know or care?” snapped the boss.

“Because doesn’t it have a display of galactic rocks?”

Aries stared at him for a moment before exclaiming, “Holy shit, you think we can crush them up and use them to connect to our constellations and chart a path.”

“You think it could work?”

A pensive expression tugged Aries’ features. “I don’t know. I mean, first we’d have to steal those displays, then we’d have tofind a way to crush the stone down into a powder. I don’t know if there will be enough to draw the calculations.”

“You got a better idea?”

Aries pinched his lips. “No. So I guess the question is, how can we obtain them without too much notice?”

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